“So, which clean-up crew would you have called? Manning’s?”
I snort. “Only if I wanted to be blackmailed with it later. Amateurs call Manning.”
He smiles at me, a real one, and I have to focus to breathe. He’s magnificent this close. I survive sitting next to him all day in our classes by not looking at him, but now I let myself just take him in. I tape some gauze over the parts of his hands that are still bleeding, and he lets me, watching me as much as I’m watching him.
“So who, then? Who would a Mounty call to get rid of a body?”
I can’t really answer him. It would give too much away. I’d call the Jackal or the Bear. I wouldn’t have to pay them a cent for their services, either. I’d call in a favor or make a deal with them on the spot, and then my problems would just vanish.
“That should hold if you don’t shower until tomorrow. Or just get one of your friends to do it again for you. I’m assuming you have a kit of your own?”
He nods and watches me pack everything away. I feel his eyes on my legs as I bend to shove the kit back under my bed, but when I stand and face him, he’s got his phone out. When he lifts it to his ear, I frown down at him.
“Nothing is wrong, Floss. Can’t I call you to be social?”
I cross my arms and take a step away from him. I guess this is where I pay for making him bleed for me. Nothing ever comes for free, not here at Hannaford and certainly not back home.
“Okay, you’re right I do need something. I need you to leave Lips alone. Stop trying to get her kicked out… No, I’m not joking… I’m not telling you to be her friend, I’m saying stop fucking with her on my behalf. I’m over it. I’m done…I don’t like her, I owe her, and I hate owing people shit. Just drop it… if Joey wants her dead and she’s too stubborn to leave to save her skin, then that’s not our problem. You don’t owe him a cleanup, Aves.”
My stomach hollows out as I listen to him negotiate a ceasefire with Avery for me. He said he owes me; what did I do for him? I think back, but I can’t remember anything I’ve done. Well, the necklace, but I haven’t even told him I have it yet. I wince guiltily.
He hangs up and meets my eye again. I wait for him to explain, to get up and leave, to tell me what I now owe him for this. I wait for him to tell me it's all a joke and I’m still trash to him. I guess he did tell Avery he doesn’t like me, but he’s not acting like that. When he just stares at me, nervousness bubbles up until I speak, just to break the intensity of his gaze.
“Why do you owe me? I don’t remember helping you.”
He grumbles and stands up. He looks almost bashful; it’s charming as fuck.
“Joey set his eyes on you because of me. He heard me raging at Avery about you, and it caught his interest. Whatever, you should leave Hannaford. You’re stupid if you think you can take on Joey and survive.”
I scoff at him. “Of course you do. What could a poor Mounty do against a billionaire sociopath?”
He shrugs at me and flexes his fingers. I can't stop thinking about the damn necklace, until finally I sigh and walk over to where I’ve dropped my bag. I’ve been carrying it around for weeks, trying to pluck up the courage to give it back to him.
“Don't ask me how I got this, and please don't start shit with me over it, just take it and forget this ever happened,” I ramble. He quirks an eyebrow at me, but he reaches for me. I drop the little gold chain into his outstretched hand, and he freezes. The look on his face breaks my heart. He's so reverent, so gentle as he cradles the little heart pendant in his big, bandaged palm. When he looks up at me, his eyes are red-rimmed and glassy. I feel like scum for carrying it around for so long.
“I'm sorry I didn't give it to you sooner. I don't even have a reason, I just didn't. Like I said, please just forget I ever had it.”
“Lips, this is… I've been trying to get this back foryears.”
I blink away tears of my own as I turn away from him. I wish so much that we had met under different circumstances and we could be friends. The fierce, protective nature of him draws me in like nothing else. I want him, but I want to be in his circle more.
I hear him moving behind me, but I don’t want to look back at him. I should have slipped the necklace into his bag while he wasn’t looking or given it to Ash to pass along instead. I feel the heat of his body press up along my back as his scent envelopes me. I freeze, and my heart stutters in my chest. It takes me a second to realize he’s not attacking me, he’s not trying to hurt me or get some sort of revenge, he’s just close to me. I clear my throat like I’m going to speak, but I don’t know what I would say to him. He’s everything I wish I had, and it pains me to have him this close and to know it’s only going to last for a second.
He leans down and brushes his lips to my cheek softly. My eyes fall shut, and I struggle to stop myself from leaning back into his warmth.
“Thank you,” he whispers into my ear, and then he disappears, closing my door quietly behind him and taking his heat and delicious smell with him.
I feel gutted.
Chapter 23
My whole world has shifted on its axle a little after Harley’s visit to my room.
I don’t see him for the entire spring break, even though I eat every meal in the dining hall. I barely sleep, because I’m too busy freaking out about how much I actually like him. Like, not just wanting to ogle him or even consider making out with him, but to actually keep him. It’s disturbing. I hate crushes so much, because they really docrushyou.
When class goes back after the break, I make the perilous decision to trust him at his word, and I go down to the dining hall for breakfast. The lure of the incredible French toast is strong enough to let me test him out. I notice the difference the second I leave the safety of my room.
There’s no whispering.
